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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Benny Napoleon / William Archie/Detroit Free Press

Kofi Myler

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The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t take 911 calls, but 61 employees have take-home cars in case they’re called out to an emergency.

That total, which is down from 80 take-home cars just a few weeks ago, is equal to Oakland County and higher than Macomb County, which combined handle 911 calls from 22 cities, villages and townships with more than 535,000 residents.

The vast majority of the take-home cars in Wayne County are assigned to command staff — unlike the other two counties, where more cars are assigned to detectives and officers on specialized units. Some civilian employees also receive cars in Wayne County, whereas only sworn officers get vehicles in Oakland and Macomb counties.

The Free Press received the list of take-home cars in Wayne County under a Freedom of Information Act request, which also uncovered at least one instance of an employee who had a vehicle but was not authorized for one.

The 61 take-home vehicles don’t include marked squad cars, which go home with some deputies under a program designed to deter crime by showing increased police presence in neighborhoods.

The cost of Wayne County’s unmarked take-home cars — which comprise about 33% of the department’s fleet of vehicles — isn’t known since a spokeswoman said the vehicles are covered in a larger budget item. Determining that cost could be important since Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon is poised to exceed his $85-million budget this year by at least $25 million.

Some critics insist the cars — as well as the fuel and maintenance costs also picked up by the county — are a chance to save money. The department has 187 vehicles in its fleet, which includes cars, trucks, vans, trailers and other vehicles.

“The least they could do is put their own gas in it,” said Wayne County Commissioner Ilona Varga, D-Lincoln Park, who chairs the county’s committee on public safety, judiciary and homeland security. “I don’t think they go out in the middle of the night. The sheriff doesn’t have that kind of investigatory unit.”

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Civilians get cars, too

Napoleon’s press secretary, Paula Bridges, who also has a take-home car, said the vehicles are needed to ensure rapid response to emergencies around the clock.

“The sheriff is very adamant about emergency preparedness,” Bridges said. “You don’t want to find yourself unprepared in the event of an emergency.”

Reducing the number of take-home cars could save money, but not nearly enough to eliminate the deficit in the sheriff’s office, said Jan Lazar, a municipal finance expert who has reviewed the county budget to testify in arbitration hearings.

Wayne County has struggled financially as annual property tax collections have fallen by almost $150 million since their peak in 2007. It’s also fighting an accumulated deficit of $149 million, including a $22.7-million operating deficit in 2012, according to an audit completed Jan. 31.

Napoleon — who the Free Press reported last year has 41 appointees, including 16 with salaries of $100,000 a year or more — provides some of them with take-home cars. Several are civilians, a practice that doesn’t occur in Oakland or Macomb.

Napoleon, who has a county-provided 2011 GMC Yukon, declined an interview request. It’s difficult to estimate the cost of each vehicle, Lazar said, because factors such as miles driven, gas mileage and maintenance costs can vary substantially from one car to another.

When Oakland County contracts with a local community to provide police service, it charges $11,000 annually per car for one shift or $33,000 annually for a car around the clock, Undersheriff Michael McCabe said. But those figures are based on patrol car usage, which is much higher than an administrator’s vehicle.

Another department lawyer, Ursula Henry, was driving a 2003 Cadillac CTS until the Free Press inquired about take-home vehicles. Henry’s use of that vehicle was “unauthorized,” and the Cadillac has since been turned in, Bridges said.

Bridges said she couldn’t discuss how Henry ended up with the vehicle because it is a personnel matter. Henry and another employee were disciplined, said Bridges, but she wouldn’t provide details. Of the 61 take-home vehicles at the sheriff’s department, 57 are funded through the county’s general fund and four others are funded through the department of Children and Family Services, Bridges said.

Bridges defended her vehicle, saying she has been called out to crime scenes at all hours, especially if a deputy is involved in a shooting. She said she was out at 1:30 a.m. recently when deputies were working a crackdown on drag racing.

“I have to leave out of the house or wherever I’m at,” she said. “I have to get up and go. You have an obligation to respond. That’s why we have county phones and county vehicles so that we can respond.”

Vehicles just in case

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office differs from its counterparts in Oakland and Macomb counties when it comes to policing. Most Wayne County deputies work in the county’s three jails, and the office doesn’t provide police service on a contract basis to local communities that don’t have their own police departments. Deputies do patrol the county parks and the campuses of the Wayne County Community College District.

With state funding, Wayne County deputies also patrol some secondary roads, enforcing traffic laws, and they also enforce warrants issued by the circuit court. Wayne County did away with its detective bureau under former Sheriff Warren Evans. Last month, Napoleon disbanded the sheriff’s narcotics unit, which had 19 take-home vehicles assigned to it.

Two sheriff’s executives — Cmdr. Donafay Collins and Deputy Chief James Spivey, who work for the courts — have take-home cars. So do 10 executives who oversee the county’s three jails. Deputy Chief Larry Hall, who is in charge of training, gets a take-home car.

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Bridges said most of them are in the sheriff’s command structure, meaning they could be called on to respond to any major incident. She said jail supervisors need take-home cars in case they have to respond to a problem such as a power outage at the jail, and many of those administrators have additional responsibilities. Bridges said the sheriff’s office considered parking cars in a central location for pickup when those people are called out to an emergency, but the plan was deemed unworkable.

What other counties do

The number of take-home vehicles assigned by the Oakland and Macomb county sheriff’s offices also represent smaller percentages of the overall fleet in those counties —16% in Oakland and 29% in Macomb — despite being first responders in many communities.

In Oakland County’s fleet of 379 cars, 61 go home with sworn police officers and only one, the major who oversees courts and corrections, works in the jail, McCabe said. Oakland County deputies police 16 communities with 348,000 people. McCabe said 28 of the vehicles go home with detectives who can be called to investigate crimes around the clock.

Another 16 vehicles belong to the department’s K9 officers, who respond at any time with their dogs. Seven administrators, including the sheriff and undersheriff, take home cars.

Members of the sheriff’s arson investigation unit rotate use of a car. McCabe said the officer on call on any given night can take the vehicle home, but the department doesn’t provide one car for each member of the unit.

“Take-home cars are based on the need for emergency call out and possible countywide mobilization,” McCabe said.

Sheriff’s captains in places such as Rochester Hills and Pontiac, which contract with the sheriff’s office for police service, get take-home cars because they serve as de facto police chiefs for those communities and respond at all hours, McCabe said.

The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office has 120 vehicles in its fleet, and 35 go home with deputies. Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said six administrators have take-home cars, and the rest go to detectives and others who are subject to call-out around the clock.

“If I’ve got a guy who lives in the north end of the county and he gets called out, he responds directly to the scene instead of coming into the office, getting his equipment and heading out there,” Wickersham said.